It’s 10th anniversary of Humarock New Year’s swim

In 1898, an intense storm caused the North River to change course, separating Humarock from Scituate and connecting the land mass to Marshfield.

A century later, Humarock residents commemorated the anniversary of the storm with a bridge dedication, a photography exhibit and a bonfire – plus a frigid ocean dip on New Year’s Day.

Next week, they’ll celebrate the 10th anniversary of the New Year’s dip. The so-called Humarock Hurricanes’ annual New Year’s Day Plunge is scheduled for noon Tuesday at the public beach at the end of Marshfield Avenue.

“This is our 10th one. We started in 1998, which was the anniversary of the storm of 1898,” said Christina Brown, owner of Humming Rock Gifts. “It was just such a fun event that we just kept going every year.”

Brown said organizers got the idea from the Rexhame Rangers, who have been splashing in neighboring Marshfield each New Year’s Day since 1992, and from other New Year’s dips in the region.

“Every year it’s grown and grown and grown,” Brown said. “So many people say, ‘It’s just a renewal thing. It gets me off on the right foot for the new year.’”

Brown said last year’s plunge drew the biggest turnout: about 100 people who splashed in the water and about 500 spectators. A few years ago, a Humarock couple who got married on New Year’s Eve did the dip with their whole bridal party, she said.

Organizers ask spectators to bring non-perishable items for the local food pantry – canned goods or personal-care products such as bath tissue, shaving cream or toothpaste.

The food drive is sponsored by the Humarock Beach Improvement Association. Food goes to pantries in Scituate and Marshfield, Brown said.

“They’re very grateful to have the stuff. They always need to be replenished after the holidays,” Brown said.

Before the mammoth storm of Nov. 26 and 27, 1898, Humarock was a peninsula at the southern tip of the Scituate shoreline. The gale washed away Rivermoor Beach, which connected Third and Fourth cliffs, and created a neighborhood cut off from the rest of Scituate by the North River.

“That was a huge deal, that storm of 1898 affected us in Humarock probably more than anyone else,” Brown said. “It changed our geography.”

For more information about this year’s plunge, call 617-688-9267 or visit humarock.net.